1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to motion capture techniques and more specifically to a method and apparatus for facial motion capture for use animating actors having different facial geometry""s.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Motion capture for the entertainment industry is a generally expensive and complicated process that is often limited to capturing gross motion of a character""s position and limbs. Motion of a live actor may be captured and may be used to drive an animated character.
What is needed are methods and apparatus for capturing the detail, range and subtle motions of a high density actor such as a human face and methods and apparatus for transferring captured high density motion to one or more computer generated characters.
In a first aspect, the present invention provides a technique and surface treatment for a high-density surface to be captured. The use of the technique and surface treatment maximize captured information and thus permit the use of multiple image processing techniques alone or in combination to extract motion and position information.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a high-resolution calibration object to optimize the accuracy of the image capture array.
In another aspect, the present invention provides an image-based technique for extracting and reducing image capture data forming a shape library for a given high-density surface or actor. This processing technique may be used to reduce the noise in the raw data. The shape library may be used to create a new performance for a surface or actor based on the captured database of the actor""s range of expressions. The new performance may be used to drive an animated surface or character.
In still another aspect, the present invention provides a technique for facial motion capture that may be incorporated into a conventional entertainment production process.